GAZA WAR UPDATE, Day #17: Is ceasefire at hand, or close? Rocket fire dropping, but terrorist tunnels remain serious threat. Here’s the latest….

UPDATED:As I write this, the Israeli security cabinet is meeting to consider a seven-day ceasefire proposal by Secretary Kerry, even as Palestinians are rioting in the West Bank and Hamas is calling for a “third intifada.”

The big question Israeli leaders are wrestling with is this: Has the IDF destroyed enough of the terrorists’ rockets, missiles, launchers, tunnels, weapons stockpiles and command and control centers to justify stopping now, or do they need more time to accomplish the nation’s objectives of establishing several years or true calm and stability?

The good news: Israeli defensive measures have kept civilian deaths in Israel low (2 so far), and rocket fire has dropped from 190+ a day near the beginning of the conflict to 63 yesterday.

The bad news: the terrorist tunnel network is more extensive and dangerous than Israeli intelligence realized.

The challenge: Iron Dome is working extremely well at neutralizing the rocket threat, but there is no Iron Dome to protect Israel from terrorist tunnels.

Israel is coming under increasing pressure by the world community — and particularly by the Obama administration — to end the fighting quickly. Actually, it’s been Hamas that has turned down multiple ceasefire proposals. But their terrorist forces are getting hammered by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) so they may be ready to quit soon, lest they are completely dismantled by Israel. That said, Israeli leaders don’t want a ceasefire that will simply give Hamas and Islamic Jihad more time to prepare for the next war.

I will do my best to keep you posted via Twitter throughout the day and weekend on the latest diplomatic developments.